The Tesla Model 3 is set to overtake the Nissan LEAF as the best selling electric car of all time this quarter and likely to hit 500,000 sales too.
The best-selling electric car of all time is the Nissan LEAF. That’s been the case almost since the LEAF first went on sale in 2010. But not for much longer.
Tesla Model3 (Image: Wikimedia/Carlquinn)
To date, the Nissan LEAF has amassed sales of around 450,000, but the Tesla Model 3 – which only went on sale in the UK last year – looks set to overtake the LEAF this quarter as Tesla defies all the odds to produce and deliver big Model 3 numbers to the market.
As far as we can tell, the Tesla Model 3’s sales are just a notch below the LEAF’s cumulative sales at the end of 2019 – around 445,000 – and with the current rate of deliveries and production the Model 3 will take the title, probably by the end of January.
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This fall for only the second time in my life, I bought a new car.
It’s an emission-free Nissan Leaf. I named it “Greta.” Last night, I ran into a friend who has a Tesla all-electric vehicle (AEV) also named “Greta.” I’m now wondering how many AEVs there are in the world bearing the name of Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.
I’m comfortable saying it was the extraordinary courage of this young woman who could be my granddaughter that drove my decision to go all-electric. “OK boomer,” I said to myself, “it’s your turn to help leave a habitable world for the next generation.
Nissan Leaf (Image: Qurren/Wikipedia)
When Green Mountain Power held a get-acquainted session on AEVs for its customers, my wife and I drove up. They had most current models available there for customers to test drive and dealers to answer questions. I chose the Leaf and, thrilled that I fit in it, took it for a spin. It was a distinctly different experience … silence, no auto-shifting clunks. I learned that by using the eco-pedal, I didn’t need the brake pedal and could extend Greta’s range. I was hooked!
I’ve traveled 1,200 miles with Greta and my early experience with the car sent me searching for the encyclopedic instruction manual in the glove compartment. Like most consumers, I had read the FAQs and thought I knew it all. At the time of purchase, my key question was driving range between charges, a deciding factor for most potential buyers. The range is nominally 150 miles. My benchmark was the 88-mile round trip between my home in Hinesburg and Montpelier.
I set out on my first excursion with a full 152 miles on the meter. When I got to Montpelier, I expected to find it down 44 miles, but it was, in fact, down twice that — about 66 miles left to go before I needed a charge. This didn’t register, so before heading home, I pulled out the manual and read what I’d neglected to read before committing to the AEV.
Like all living things, her capacity is temperature-dependent. It was 10 above zero when I left the house and I had turned on the heat to make it worse as both heat and lights reduce Greta’s range. I risked the straight shot home and made it with 12 miles to go by turning off the heat and arrived home in a near cadaverous chill, scraping my frozen breath from the inside of the windshield with a credit card. Did this mean driving at night with no lights and no heat? Should I buy a flashlight and a wool blanket?
I also learned Greta’s batteries can be severely damaged by exposure to temperatures below minus 13. I’ve lived in Vermont for 70 years and have yet to experience a winter where it didn’t get colder than that. I remember a sunny, dry winter day in Lincoln at 38 below. Could the car even survive here, much less provide frigid transportation beyond a few miles from home? I began to worry.
But I’ve learned that by monitoring the temperature and my energy usage as I drive, using the eco-pedal to recharge as I drive, charging every night at home during off-peak hours, I can manage quite well and I haven’t eaten in a gas station in two months. I’m finding more and more charging stations, all searchable on my cellphone. Besides if it’s freezing cold and I have a round trip to Montpelier, a stop at Red Hen Bakery in Middlesex for a quick charge, a latte and a croissant isn’t much of a price to pay for doing my part. Sometimes, slowing life down enhances it.
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The Nissan Leaf has been named the ‘Best Used Electric Car’ in the Driving Electric 2020 Awards which celebrate the best hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars on sale.
Since Nissan launched the first-generation Leaf in 2010, creating the first mass-market electric vehicle, EV technology has continually improved, with the latest models both affordable and practical for the vast majority of car buyers.
Nissan Leaf 3.Zero e+ (Image: Nissan)
The second-generation Leaf, launched in 2018, is the icon of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility strategy; featuring driving assistance technologies such as ProPILOT and ProPILOT Park, and the unique e-Pedal which allows drivers to start, accelerate and decelerate to a complete stop simply through the operation of one pedal.
Customers also benefit from Nissan’s new NissanConnect infotainment system, with larger 8” touchscreen and Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto. An upgraded navigation system features TomTom LIVE premium traffic and route optimisation, as well as the inbuilt Online Map Update facility and Chargers Location functionality.
“As you might expect from the world’s best-selling electric car, there’s no shortage of examples on the used market” said Vicky Parrott, associate editor, DrivingElectric. “They represent superb value for money, and buyers will enjoy a spacious and comfortable car that’s easy to live with. It’s the perfect affordable entry into the world of electric cars.”
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Nissan has reduced the price of the Leaf by £1,650 across all grades and secured additional supply for 2020.
The announcement follows a previous price hike of £1,800 earlier in the year.
With improved supply of the fully-electric model, Nissan expects to cut lead times for retail buyers.
Nissan Leaf 3.Zero e+ (Image: Nissan)
The starting price of a Leaf 40kWh is now £26,345 for an Acenta version (including the £3,500 Plug-in Car Grant), whilst range-topping Tekna models are available from £29,345.
Nic Verneuil, marketing director of Nissan GB, said: “Nissan is always improving the competitiveness of its vehicles, ensuring customers enjoy a better buying and ownership experience.
“We’ve not only secured additional factory production to make Leaf more accessible, but as a result we’ve also been able to significantly lower the price tag of the car in market, making it more affordable. If customers are ready to make the switch, they shouldn’t have to wait to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle.”
All new Leaf models now feature two rear USB connections fitted to the reverse panel of the centre console. On Tekna versions (and optional on N-Connecta versions) the LED fog lights have also been upgraded to include a cornering function.
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As of today, visitors to the Johan Cruijff Arena (JCA) in Amsterdam can actively contribute to the power supply of the arena with their electric cars by integrating them into the stadium’s power grid.
The first of 15 bidirectional charging stations in the JCA is now officially in operation.
The project combines the 15 new charging stations with the existing 3 MW battery storage – consisting of 148 Nissan Leaf batteries – and the 1 MW photovoltaic system on the roof of the arena. An innovative charging and energy management system is working in the background.
Nissan Leaf (Image: Qurren/Wikipedia)
In the future, all of JCA’s nearly 2,000 parking spaces will be successively equipped with intelligent charging infrastructure. “Enabling visitors to give back clean energy to the stadium ensures they have a smart way of doing their bit towards the ecosystem,” Gers Baron, CTO for the Amsterdam City Council.
The intelligent software control was supplied by The Mobility House, based in Munich, Germany. It coordinates the energy supply in both directions – car-to-stadium and stadium-to-car. This enables electric cars to transfer energy from stadium visitors – with their consent – to boost the maximum current capacity of the stadium, “thus reducing the stadium’s electricity bill and contributing to a more stable national grid.” At the same time, the system ensures that the car battery is recharged in time when visitors want to drive home.
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Nissan has turned its all-electric Leaf hatchback into a Christmas tree, powering an extensive array of lights from the car’s regenerative braking energy systems.
The one-off vehicle utilises the manufacturer’s e-Pedal and B mode to power the model’s ‘spectacular light display’, including thousands of LEDs.
Helen Perry, head of electric vehicles for Nissan Europe, said: “Santa shouldn’t be the only one with a festive mode of transport. We wanted to make the Nissan Leaf more fun at this time of year whilst driving home a very important message.
“We hope this custom-made vehicle inspires people about the benefits of regenerative energy.”
The difference between the two regenerative braking systems mentioned is that while the e-Pedal harvests energy from the movement of the car during braking or deceleration, feeding it back to the batteries, B mode is a driving function that regenerates energy when using the traditional brake pedal as normal.
The Nissan Tree was created as a means to showcase the benefits of regenerative energy, emphasising that the average Leaf driver regenerates 744kWh of clean energy if they drive 11,000 miles – equivalent to 20 per cent of the overall domestic electricity consumption of an average household.
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Is MG’s first electric car a convincing challenger? We compare the new ZS EV to the big-selling Nissan Leaf
As more manufacturers explore electric tech, the trickle-down continues to penetrate the lower car classes, democratising zero-emissions motoring for many.
The latest affordable EV model to emerge comes from MG. The Chinese-owned, reborn British brand is offering quite a strong proposition with its ZS EV SUV, as a simple look at the numbers shows: £26,995 for the top-spec Exclusive model and a claimed WLTP range of 163 miles.
This means the MG faces a key rival the Nissan Leaf, a car that pioneered affordable electric motoring. At this price it’s the top-spec MG versus the entry-level Nissan – but when it comes to power, range and charging, the two are close.
MG ZS EV
ZS EV (Image: MG)
For: Range and affordability, stronger, more flexible recharging capability, decent practicality and kit. Against: Ride and handling could be more controlled, infotainment lacks EV-specific functionality.
Key to any EV is its battery. This determines the usable range on offer, as well as the car’s performance, and in the ZS EV the engineering and tech are pretty good given the price. The 44.5kWh battery total means around 40kWh of usable capacity, and MG claims 163 miles on a full charge.
The battery supplies a 141bhp electric motor that drives the front wheels. This is 7bhp down on the Leaf, but then the MG is 41kg lighter. The ZS EV’s performance on test was more than adequate, with the 353Nm of torque (33Nm more than the Leaf) delivered instantly for strong and smooth acceleration.
It sprinted from 0-60mph in 7.4 seconds, 0.4 seconds faster than the Leaf, but by 60mph the MG’s urgency tails off (its top speed is only 87mph). Acceleration from lower speeds is more important to more people, and in this instance, the ZS managed 30-50mph in 2.7 seconds, compared to 2.8 seconds in the Leaf, so there’s little to split them. This acceleration is what makes smaller EVs like these easy and fun to drive in urban areas.
Nissan is conducting a 200-day trial to find out if you can run an electric car on the power of the sun.
It’s the dream of any motorist: free fuel for life – and Nissan Australia is poised to find out if it’s possible and practical.
Nissan has unveiled three electric-car charging stations at its head office in Melbourne powered by solar panels on its roof.
They are part of a 200-day trial to find out if solar-powered charging stations can provide truly emissions-free motoring.
Nissan Leaf (Image: Nissan)
The charging station is the first of its type in Australia because it can be programmed to draw energy from a range of sources at certain times.
The charging stations can source energy from solar panels or the traditional coal-powered electricity grid.
Those sources of energy can then be used to charge the station’s built-in 6kWh battery pack – or send energy directly to an electric vehicle.
It means that depending on weather conditions, an electric car can be recharged using solar power only – or energy in the battery can be generated purely by solar power.
The practical reasons against electric are disappearing – and now councils are stepping in to help
This feels like one of the “You’re the expert” questions that appear in Guardian Money every week. I have an old-ish petrol-fuelled car, sitting parked outside my terraced home, which I use only at weekends. And I have a brother-in-law who is evangelical about his Nissan Leaf. I’d like to be more like him. Yet the closest charging point for me is a 10-minute walk away, and often busy. Is it just too early to ditch my old car and go electric?
The question marks over electric vehicles used to be about battery technology and the cost. But “range anxiety” has largely been conquered. The first Nissan Leaf batteries took you about 80-85 miles without needing a charge; the latest ones do 150 miles. The new Kia e-Niro family car manages 300 miles, while at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Mercedes was showing off its Vision EQS model with a “comfortable” range of 435 miles. Given that the average car journey in the UK is just 10 miles, according to the RAC, fears over the usability of electric cars are fading fast.
Kia e-Niro EV (Image: Kia)
Sadly, prices for new electric cars remain higher significantly higher than for petrol or diesel, with the eGolf at about £30,000 compared with petrol ones starting at about £20,000. But as we highlight this week, a used market is now developing in electric vehicles, with entry-level prices as low as £5,000 – with no annual tax, and low servicing charges to boot. What’s more, driving costs are a fraction of the cost of petrol, without even mentioning the enormous benefit to the environment, especially in cities.
So why aren’t we all switching over? The knee-jerk response is now about charging times, for city dwellers like me without the luxury of a drive or garage. Who in their right mind is going to spend half an hour queuing for a charge point, then sit there for an hour or so while it fills up? Or faff around finding the only on-street overnight charge point available, then walk home in the rain for half an hour? It’s not going to happen.
The correct response is that the climate crisis means we will have to live without the hyper-convenience we became accustomed to. If the average journey is just 10 miles, why not take the bus or use an e-bike? And if you must insist on a private car, is a 10- or 15-minute walk to a charging point really such a sacrifice to save the environment?
Month 10 of our Nissan Leaf long-term test: the end verdict is in
With increasing rarity a car will come along delivering such a knockout punch in one specific area that it completely recalibrates your clemency counter, and you find yourself forgiving it for all its other shortcomings and foibles. Nissan’s new Leaf did that to me. Quite unexpectedly, too.
Before it arrived I was thoroughly ambivalent about it, and the affordable electric revolution it spearheaded. There were the unfounded but pervasive concerns that it would slowly whirr to a silent halt at the most inopportune time and in the most inopportune location possible. There was all that faff with the army of smartphone apps and online accounts required to charge on the fly. A cursory glance at a sparsely-populated charger location map wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring. All this – not to mention that it looked gawky – almost sealed the Leaf’s fate before I drove it. How wrong I was.
Nissan Leaf 3.Zero e+ (Image: Nissan)
It took just a month and 1000 miles to realise my mistake. I recall with clarity parking up at home after returning from Weybridge – a 140 mile trip undertaken at get-a-serious-wiggle-on-or-we’re-going-to-be-late pace – and realising I’d not given a second through to the Leaf’s range. I enjoyed its warm pre-heated cabin when I set off. I saw off a couple of surprised tailgating BMWs and Audis on some fast A-roads. I loved the superb Bose sound system. I found its silent and smooth driving characteristic incredibly relaxing. And the best bit was working out that electricity for the trip cost me just over a fiver. The price of two cups of coffee. I realised I was riding on the cusp of what will soon be the new normal for many drivers – and I was thoroughly enjoying the journey into the future.
